Lady Flames Improve To 5-0 With 17-Point Victory At Binghamton

Two separate second-half runs, one a 15-2 surge and one a 12-1 burst, broke open a close game and allowed Liberty to defeat Binghamton, 62-45, Saturday afternoon at the Events Center.

Megan Frazee and Roli-Ann Nikagbatse paced the Lady Flames with 11 points apiece, enabling Liberty to improve to 5-0 and record its 10th-consecutive road triumph, dating back to last season.

The Bearcats, who shot just 28.3 percent (15-53) from the floor, are now 2-3.

The Lady Flames kept the home team scoreless for the first 3:45 of play, before Juta Jahilo made a free throw to cut Liberty's lead to 4-1.

Both teams struggled to find the basket during the game's early stages. Liberty and Binghamton combined to make only four field goals before the second media timeout. At the 11:19 mark, the Lady Flames owned a 9-3 edge.

Molly Frazee tossed in four markers during a 9-2 burst halfway through the opening stanza. Her lay-up extended the Liberty advantage to 16-5, marking the Lady Flames' largest cushion of the half, with 8:00 showing on the clock.

Three-pointers by Rebecka Lindgren and Erica Carter ignited a 12-2 surge by the Bearcats. Liberty's lead was down to one point, 18-17, after Laura Sario's bank shot at 1:50.

A Courtney Watkins three-pointer from the right wing 32 seconds before halftime bolstered the Lady Flames' edge to 23-19 at the break.

Liberty led at the intermission despite shooting just 36 percent (9-25) from the floor and committing nine turnovers. Molly Frazee and Moriah Frazee paced Liberty's first-half scoring attack with four points apiece. The Lady Flames' 23 points in the opening 20 minutes represented their lowest-scoring half of the season.

The Bearcats connected on just 7-of-28 first-half field goal attempts themselves. Carter and Laura Franceski came off the bench to tally four points each.

After the squads emerged from the locker room, Binghamton scored six of the first eight tallies of the second half. Shea Kenny's jumper at 18:57 leveled the score at 25 apiece.

Liberty responded with a 15-2 burst, capped off by Watkins' shot from the paint with 13:46 left in the game which made the score 40-27, Lady Flames. Watkins and Allyson Fasnacht both scored five points during the run.

Kenny then drained consecutive three-pointers during an 8-0 Binghamton surge. Her second connection from behind the arc at 12:31 pulled the Bearcats back to within five, 40-35.

Nikagbatse starred during Liberty's subsequent 12-1 run, posting a three-pointer and an old-fashioned three-point play among her eight points during the surge. Megan Frazee's reverse lay-up with 8:11 showing on the clock pushed the Lady Flames' advantage to 16 points, 52-36.

The Bearcats were held without a field goal for 6:35 until Sario completed a three-point play with 5:56 remaining in the contest. The home team got as close as 11 points at the 3:47 mark when Carter sank a three-pointer but could not get the deficit back to single digits.

Liberty scored eight of the game's final 10 points. Jamie Feagin drilled a layup with 31 seconds left, scoring her first tallies of the year in front of a sizable following in her home state and making the final score 62-45.

Megan Frazee led the Lady Flames with six boards, helping Liberty achieve a 37-31 rebounding advantage. Moriah Frazee totaled nine points and Molly Frazee and Watkins posted eight each for Liberty, which improved its shooting efficiency after halftime. The Lady Flames made 13-of-25 second-half field goal attempts (52 percent) and connected on all 10 of their charity tosses after the break.

In addition to their offensive production, Nikagbatse and Watkins teamed up to neutralize Binghamton's leading scorer, Lindgren. The left-handed sharpshooter was limited to three points on the afternoon on one-of-eight shooting. Backcourt mates Kenny and Sario picked up some of the scoring slack, tallying 12 and 10 points, respectively. Franceski led all players with seven caroms.

Liberty will wrap up a three-game road swing Wednesday evening at 7 p.m. when the Lady Flames visit in-state rival James Madison.

Binghamton travels to LaSalle on Wednesday for a road contest against the Explorers. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.